Finding 979342 (2023-001)

2023-001 Federal Agency: U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Federal program: Housing Choice Vouchers CFDA #: 14.871 Award Period: 10/1/22-9/30/23 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria or specific requirement: 24 CFR 982-516 requires internal controls to be in place to ensure compliance with HUD requirements, as well as complete and accurate tenant files. Condition: During my testing, I noted the Authority did not follow their internal controls designed to ensure compliance with tenant Eligibility requirements. Questioned Cost: $0 Context: Testing of 25 tenant files identified an exception in 2 files as follows: • 1 file did not contain a reasonable rent comparison required by HUD for Section 8 which is a comparison of similar properties to determine that a reasonable rent amount is paid for the property. • 1 file contained a Lease Agreement that was not signed by the tenant. Cause: The Agency did not obtain the required rent reasonableness comparison upon intake. The Agency also did not obtain all required signatures on certain forms. Effect: The Authority is not in compliance with requirements regarding eligibility. Identification of a repeat finding: None Recommendation: I recommend that the Agency continue to review recertifications on a monthly basis to ensure the files meet eligibility and reporting requirements. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: Management agrees with this finding. We have reviewed the intake procedure and will continue to review recertifications.